I’m in my very first art exhibition, opening next Friday at the Bemis Underground.

I’m closing in on the home stretch for a project I’ve been working on for months (more on that very soon.)

Oh, and my husband and I bought a house. We’re leaving our Old Market loft – which has been an absolutely lovely rental – for Dundee. Moving day is next weekend.

I’m also writing my first blog post in (blush) literally months.

Change is scary. But it’s also very good.

Happy Thanksgiving! Because it’s officially the holiday season, this week’s Mixed Media will be devoted to all things holiday, beginning with the Durham Museum’s annual tree lighting ceremony. The ceremony itself begins at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, Friday, Nov. 26, and runs until 7. Vocalist and local KIOS radio personality Michael Lyon will give a performance, and visitors can decorate cookies, create holiday gifts and share their list with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Durham’s annual holiday trees exhibit also opens Nov. 26. The exhibition explores holiday traditions from around the world and is created by Omaha community groups. The show includes a selection of holiday trees decorated with diverse holiday customs. The show continues through Jan. 2.

On Saturday, Nov, 27, ten studio locations in Benson will be part of one big holiday art show. “Get Gifty” includes work from more than 40 artists – including Wanda Ewing, Julie Conway, Andrew Hershey and Jason Gerber, among many others. The event starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 6; galleries include Studio Illuminata, 2725 N. 62nd St.; Adventure in Art, 6001 Maple St.; Pizza Shoppe Collective, 6056 Maple St.; Justin Beller Studio, 6110 ½ Maple St.; Silver of Oz, 6115 Maple St.; Ying Zhu Studio, 62nd and Maple streets; Blue Pomegranate Gallery, 6570 Maple St.; and JD Gerber Photography, 6572 Maple St. A portion of all the art sold during the event will go to support Omaha Youth Emergency Services, which offers a safe place for at-risk young people in the Omaha area.

On Friday, Dec. 3, the Artists Cooperative Gallery opens its annual holiday show. The show has a theme – this year’s is “quarters only” – and the members of the space will be showing work that fits into that theme, but with their own personal interpretation. The artists will play host to two openings during the run of the show: one of Friday, Dec. 3 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and a second on Sunday. Dec. 5 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The Annual Hot Shops Open House is slated for Saturday, Dec. 4. and Sunday, Dec. 5 From noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Hot Shops artists and galleries will be open for business. Studio visits, art displays, live music and a huge variety of work – including the ever popular blown glass holiday ornaments – make the weekend one not to miss. The event takes place at the Hot Shops, 1301 Nicholas St. in North Downtown Omaha.

And one final note this week: The Joslyn Art Museum has free admission all weekend. The museum will be free Friday Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 27 from 10 to 4 and Sunday, Nov. 28 from noon to 4. All the Joslyn permanent collection and special exhibition galleries will be open, as will the museum shop, café and sculpture gardens.

Whenever I get an e-mail from Scott Blake, it usually means he’s up to something new. I got one earlier this week and it was no exception. Our local bar code artist is playing host to an Art-O-Mat machine in Omaha this summer. Art-O-Mats are retired cigarette vending machines repurposed to vend art. More than 80 machines are installed in venues around the U.S. and around 400 artists – Blake included – submit original artwork that people can buy from the machines. Blake sells his bar code temporary tattoos in the machines.

The machines vend all sorts of interesting stuff. A quick survey of some of the contributing artists’ items included toys, miniature portraits, puzzles, tiny ceramic bowls and wooden boxes.

Omaha’s machine will travel around to different locations and will begin vending art this June in the Bemis Underground. The Omaha Art-O-Mat will have a black and white paint job with red pinstripes, inspired by Blake’s bar code works. He’s looking for local artists who want to put art in the vending machine. There’s a few submission guidelines, and interested artists can contact Blake.

“I’m obviously biased but I still highly recommend the project,” Blake wrote. “I think it would be cool to fill up our machine with all Omaha artists.”

This morning I went to the first art talk at the new Bemis Underground. Tana Quincy talked about her installation piece “SODZO” (she’s pictured first) and Rebecca Herskovitz spoke about the work in her show “The Things I Cannot Say.” As you can see, there weren’t any chairs and the audience moved through the gallery during the talk, allowing for lots of audience participation and an open atmosphere that welcomed questions.

After the talk, I had myself a lovely solo lunch at one of my favorite places, La Buvette. Nothing like a glass of white wine, a slice of salmon cod loaf, (adapted from a classic Julia Child recipe, so the chef told me) the newspaper and my ever-present Blackberry. Happy weekend!